BRISTOL, Va. – In most circumstances, it’s the pitcher who usually quiets opposing rallies by making well-placed offerings. But on Sunday at DeVault Stadium, it was the other side of the battery putting out potential fires.
Danville catcher Daniel Elorriaga-Matra snuffed out two Bristol uprisings with his rifle-like arm, picking off respective base runners in the fifth and ninth innings, respectively, to help preserve a 2-1 series-clinching victory in yet another pitcher’s duel between the two Appalachian League squads.
“[Elorriaga-Matra] made two tremendous plays tonight,” noted Danville manager Paul Runge, whose squad maintained their two-game East Division lead over Princeton. “It was tough to manufacture runs out there. But any time you get defensive plays like that, they become even bigger in a ballpark where it’s tough to score runs.”
With pitching dominating this series, all three results could have gone either way. But on Sunday, Bristol (15-22) essentially ran itself out of two possible scoring chances behind
Elorriaga-Matra’s alert, yet assertive throws. Following two fifth-inning leadoff walks from Danville starter Tyler Stovall to Harold Baines Jr. and Ryan Lee, Elorriaga-Matra caught Baines Jr. leaning too far off second – snapping a throw to shortstop Mycal Jones for an eventual first out.
Then in the ninth, with the Braves (27-13) clinging to their one-run edge, Elorriaga-Matra came up huge again. Pinch-runner Jose Fulgencio took the place of teammate Miguel
Gonzalez – who led off the last frame with an opposite-field single off Braves’ reliever David Hale – to officially become the BriSox’s potential tying run.
Elorriaga-Matra, however, quickly changed that situation, uncorking a perfect throw two pitches later to first baseman Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg for yet another critical pickoff.
“I always know to keep my eyes open there and be ready to throw it,” said the Danville catcher, who came around to score the go-ahead run in the fifth following his one-out single. “[Fulgencio] stayed out there, so I threw it behind him and got him out.”
Bristol’s Kyle Davis followed with a walk, but Danville reliever Jeffrey Lorick then entered and ultimately recorded his second save by retiring both pinch-hitter Leighton Pangilinan and Shaydron Buckridge.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, scored Bristol’s lone run in the second on a Stovall wild pitch.
Despite issuing six walks, Stovall still went five innings for the victory, however, allowing just two hits while striking out three.
SOX NOTES: Bristol starter Andre Rienzo garnered a tough fourth loss, issuing just two runs on seven hits through six quality innings. … The two teams combined to go 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. … Jones and L.V. Ware each belted out two hits for the Braves. … The BriSox next host Kingsport Tuesday.
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